Each morning at the entrance to Town School, you will find me welcoming students with a handshake, a smile and a cheerful “Good morning!” This longstanding Town tradition of morning greetings fosters a sense of belonging and serves as an extension of the strong relationships between the adults at Town and our students. I am privileged to live this daily and I love that this means each boy starts his day from a place of joy and connection.

In this warm spirit, I welcome you to the Town School website. We are a community enriched by strong levels of parent engagement. Since its founding in 1939, Town has educated boys in grades K-8 with a commitment to developing a lifelong love of learning and celebrating boys at each stage of their growth. In my time as Head of School, I have come to know Town as a remarkably joyful place where each boy is celebrated as an individual and relationships are paramount. One example of this is the graduation ceremony tradition in which each graduate shares a special remembrance from his time at Town. These funny, touching and personal stories almost always reflect experiences with classmates or the impact of a particular teacher.We are a school that puts people at its center, is committed to the work of building an inclusive community, and appreciates the powerful learning and fun we can have together in the process.

As a boys’ school, Town is uniquely positioned to direct both its academic curriculum and social-emotional program to each stage of development in K-8 boys, to help students understand themselves and to recognize perspectives and experiences that may be beyond their own. There are as many ways to be a boy as there are students at Town. Our outstanding teachers design curricular experiences that promote critical thinking, creativity and collaboration. We are intentional about providing opportunities for boys to explore their own identities, build self-awareness, develop empathy, moral courage, and care for others – and in the process, they co-create new definitions of boyhood. Town is a place where every boy can flourish and have a strong sense of belonging, and we seek to graduate boys whose personal ambitions are equaled by care and respect for others and the community.

At Town, we believe that boys become the best versions of themselves when they can connect across difference, cultivate humility, and engage fully within their communities. Through their academic classes, service learning, outdoor education, arts programming and athletics, Town boys develop these crucial skills. Town’s strong visual arts program is now complemented by a performing arts curriculum that has a home in the state-of-the-art Dolby Family Center for Performing Arts, which opened in the spring of 2018. Having already taken in performances by students, alumni, and professionals including ballet dancers from the San Francisco Ballet in this exquisite space, I eagerly await the many music, dance and drama performances by boys today and in the future.

It is a pleasure to lead Town School and to spend time daily in our hallways, playing fields and classrooms that pulse with inquiry, friendship and learning. Through the above links, I invite you to explore Town’s educational philosophies and curriculum as well as our news articles about current happenings on campus. I look forward to welcoming you to school with a handshake and a hello in the near future.

Lorri Hamilton Durbin

Prior to coming to Town School for Boys in July 2017, Lorri Hamilton Durbin served as Middle School Director at The Dalton School in New York City, where she oversaw curriculum and program for 500 students in grades 4 through 8. She has worked in academic schools with distinct missions, where the emphasis has been on teams working together to create an outstanding educational program for the growth of every student. With her varied leadership experience, she has strengthened the traditional elements of successful schools by furthering curricular innovation, fostering student and faculty leadership, extending best practices and cultivating inclusive communities.

Lorri served as the Associate Director at The Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University; Head of the Middle School at The Nueva School in Hillsborough, California; Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at San Francisco University High School; and Alumni Coordinator, Admissions Counselor and teacher at her alma mater, Midland School, in Los Olivos, California. Lorri has served twice as a member of the Board of Directors of the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) Board.

Along with her distinguished career in education, Lorri has worked at Cambridge Associates, L.L.C. and Goldman, Sachs & Co. She has a B.A. in Government from Pomona College, where she was the Varsity soccer captain and member of the All-League Teams and played women’s lacrosse. Lorri holds a Master’s in Educational Administration from Stanford University and a Master’s of Business Administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Boys School Coalition and the Common Sense Media Regional Council.

Town School for Boys

Town School for Boys is an independent all-boys’ day school in San Francisco for students in grades K-8. Town School admits students of any race, color, religion, or national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, scholarship programs, athletic and other school-administered programs.